While there are many different types of pet food available to the consumer, they frequently can be divided into two general categories, canned and dried. Canned pet food is typically moister than dried pet food, which is more often than not sold in bags or cartons. Where the food is relatively moist, the product is typically placed in a bowl and the pet can access the food as desired from the bowl. If the bowl needs to be refilled the owner usually must manually refill the bowl by either opening a new can and emptying the contents or pouring additional food from the container to the bowl. For food of a dryer consistency the food can be placed in the bowl as in the case of the moist pet food and can also be placed in a dispenser that will typically hold more than just an single meal for the pet. These dispensers will release an additional portion of the food as the food in the dish is eaten. The advantage of the dispenser is that a greater quantity of food is available to the pet over a longer period of time. This has benefits if the family is delayed in returning home at dinnertime. With the dispenser, the additional food is present and the pet will not miss a meal. In many of these dried food dispensers, the refilling aspect of the device is gravity fed. Because of the viscosity of the moist pet food, the gravity fed dispensers are not commonly used with moist food as these foods have a tendency to agglomerate together when placed in the dispenser and have a difficulty in refilling the bowl once a portion has been eaten.
Water dishes are also a common feature of many households with pets today. These dishes provide the family pet with a source of fresh water during the day to re-hydrate the animal. Water dishes can also be a mere bowl or can be a more elaborate structure that holds a significant quantity of water so that the pet has a access to sufficient water even during the hottest days. Where the waterer contains a large quantity of water one concern is the ease of refilling the container. In the past many of the waterers relied on a empty two liter soda bottle as the reservoir for the water. In these devices an empty soda bottle is filled with water and the tray was connected to the soda bottle usually by means of a threaded connection. The combination of the bowl and the bottle are transported to the site and inverted as they are placed on the floor or other surface. One of the problems that was encountered with these devices was spillage as the container was inverted. Water would inevitably spill from the bowl when the combination was set up. In addition, any time the waterer was lifted and moved for example to be refilled, cleaned or transported to a new location, if water was present there always seemed to be a spill.
Another problem with waterers and feeders was the issue of shipping and packaging. Many products today have to be packed for shipping from the factory to the store in as compact a package as possible. Whether shipped by rail car or tractor trailer a primary determinant of the shipping cost is the volume being shipped. As a result, there is a need to ship as much product as possible in a given volume. Similarly, in many retail locations, shelf space is at a premium. Retailers seek to have a broad range of products and shelf area for an item is frequently small. However, because empty shelves translate into lost sales most retailers want to be able to fit as much of the product as possible into a given area. For this reason, there is a need for compact packaging of many products.
One of the problems with the prior art waterers has been the spillage of water during the refilling process. When the prior art waterer is running low of water and has to be refilled, if there is still some water in the tray or the container the user can carry the assembly to the water station and risk water spilling as the assembly is moved. If there is no water in the container but there is water in the tray, the user can attempt to remove the container from the tray and either just take the container to the water station or attempt to move the tray or base also. However, it is not uncommon for the act of removing the container from the tray to cause spillage from the tray. Also moving a base when water is present also risks spillage.
At the water station where the container is being filled, the prior art container is typically filled through the small dispensing orifice in the lower portion of the container. The user can fill the inverted container, insert the inverted container into the inverted tray and revert the entire assembly to its original configuration. Alternatively, the user can carry the filled inverted container to the pet watering site, revert the filled container and insert the container into the tray. If the container is inserted into the tray at the water station and the container is reverted there, the user must carry the assembly to the site risking spillage as the filled assembly is carried. In addition the act of reversion of the filled container either at the water station, the site where the base was left or any place else can also cause spillage. Accordingly, there is a need for a pet waterer that reduces the amount of spillage in removing the container from the base, in filling the container and in transporting the container.
Another common problem encountered in the prior art waterers is the problem of cleaning. Many of these waterers are almost completely enclosed and the only opening is the small orifice that is used for filling and dispensing. Even though most of the waterers only hold water, the interior of the waterer can still become dirty and in need of cleaning. Also, in many parts of the country there can be a build up of hard water deposits on the interior of the container that are difficult to clean. Thoroughly cleaning these containers through the dispensing orifice is very difficult if not impossible. As a result, there is a need for a waterer that may be readily and thoroughly cleaned. The problem of cleaning can, to a lesser extent, also become an issue with respect to feeders as well. Many prior art feeders do not permit the interior to received a thorough scrubbing due to their construction.